pULa iS nO lOngEr wiTh uS...

I have many news to tell, but I just want to dedicate this post to my dear Pula...he died today , few hours ago...don't know exactly the reason, but his time had come...he would have been 10 months tomorrow ...
he was strange during the last week, after Sambo disappeared (she might be dead as well, I would like to find her)...I thought he was just sad cuz he loved Sambo so much...
it was a strange experience to see the breath of Life depart from him as I was holding him in my hands...
I got to the vet in time for him to give Pula some shots, but it was helpless...I bowed down there, I simply prayed and asked God to do what was best for him...the doctor said to leave him there and he would tell me the news...I was not comfortable with that...as I stood up, still with my both hands on Pula's body, he stretched and gave his last breath...he went home...his spirit is free...
"Humans and animals come to the same end—humans die, animals die. We all have the same breath of Life... We all end up in the same place—we all came from dust, we all end up as dust. Nobody knows for sure that the human spirit rises to heaven or that the animal spirit sinks into the earth"
(Eclesiastes 3:18-22)

I believe I'll see Pula again one day...where no death exists anymore...
death is weird for us...as Marcia said it is something we were not meant to experience...
I thank God for the gift and hope of eternal life...no death will exist anymore.. everything will be as God meant it to be...
as also Marcia felt, I sensed a feeling of thankfulness for getting to know Pula...what a charater...he gave us all good times of laughter :-)

Jesus comforted me as I came to the land and went to take Pula to the prayer tent...he loved that place...he would always join us every morning:-) we used to make fun saying he thought he was the one to be worshipped as he was always looking for attention for himself :-)... so I laid him at the door and worshipped God...the Spirit came with comfort and a new song filled my heart :

You are the Father of all...You are the mother who loves...You are the Spirit who comforts...You are the one who holds my hand...You are the One who wipes my tears...You are the One carrying me home...Jesus...Jesus"

I burried him there and planted a pine tree on top :-) it will be a wonderful tree I'm sure... maybe a funny one:-)

bye Pula...we all loved you very much...thanks for what you gave to us all...

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

wAlKiNg ZiOn...

just about to go to another rainbow party, "walking Zion" in Serra da Estrela )- just 37Km from us...it's 1000m high, in "Chão das Almas" (floor of the souls) next to the highest point in Portugal, which is 1250m. we're all going, except for Miri's mom who is visiting for few weeks and said it might be a bit too cold for her :-)... we're supposed to take all sorts of percussion instruments and flowers :-) and celebration begins :-) ... I'll share more after we come back...

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

oN tHe wAy...2 tHe rAiNbOw gAtHeRiNg...

we travelled on monday and arrived on thursday, but only now I'm having the time to seat and try to write about it...me, Marcia, Lyna and Juran went on a short trip to a rainbow gathering down south in Algarve...I feel I lost the momentum to write about it, but lets see what comes up in this post as it goes :-)...
when i arrived I was filled with lots of feelings and emotions, heart connections, lots of stories in my heart, lots of beautiful pictures in my mind... I have to say that I didn't take many pictures there cuz I don't feel comfortable as I know many people don't like cameras...But most of the things we saw and experienced cannot be capture in a picture anyway...

we had a nice trip, around 5 hours long...we stopped once in Portalegre to have a coffee and to admire an ancient tree, a massive 160 year old "Plátano" (don't know how it's called in English) ... Simply Beautiful !!!

you can call me tree hugger, I won't get offended :-) hug this !!!

We arrived after lunch and set up our "tent" on the hill...

beautiful view as well...
here's also a beautiful flower I've never seen before...it was like made of wax or something... amazing!!! it was right next to our place in the camp...
over the rainbow camp and the beautiful valley of green, yellow, purple and white... a strong fast river run through the valley and along its bank the rainbow camp was set...tents were all over in different places, the main kitchen, 2 tippis and the "coffe shop" from where we could hear shouting "coooooooffee" all day long :-)...
in about one hour we were ready to join the others...
I feel at home at the rainbows...if you're not familiar with these gatherings you can find out more here in a previous post I wrote...
people received us with a warm hug and the usual "welcome home" saying... some were already preparing dinner in the kitchen, a couple of children were playing in the water naked, some others were arriving too.. .we went to the main circle where the fire place is always burning and we joined the musicians... the guy with the guitar started to sing a nice song...I don't remember now exactly but it was something like "Jah is with us , we don't have to fear" , I followed with my drum and it went on and on till dinner was ready ..." Foooooooood circle" :-) time to gather all around the fire and join hands...we forgot the plates...Tsssss....silly us !!! but Provision never failled :-)...once a bottle cut in the middle, a plastic plate and even a normal one... God is good...and the food was always good as well !!!
I met old friends I haven't seen for years, I met new ones...there were around 60-80 people... all beautiful , each with their own characteristic, each one special...
the nights were filled with fun, music and dance...

some nights more than others...one time people were getting wild making animal's sounds...it was so fun!!! so freeing !!! so releasing !!! indescribable with words...

many people asked us about our community and so we left the directions on the "information tree"... we are hoping to have some of them over as there's gonna be another gathering soon nearby in Serra da Estrela, and also a "natural trance party" called "walking to Zion" near Covilha, where people are invited to join with all sorts of instruments ... I wanna go to that one, but I don't think I'll go to the other gathering...too much work in the garden in this hot sunny days ...
But I really wish some of those people we met will come here... That's what this land is for anyway, to welcome the pilgrims, the nomads, the travellers who need a bit of peace and rest on their journey...
not that this meetings are not peaceful nor restful, on the contrary, but as a nomad myself, I know what it's like when you just need a "home" to come back to... I miss travelling actually, and being on The Way...but I know I'm on the right place on the right season... I love hospitality as well:-)...
we also met a nice English couple who shared about permaculture and they will come as well... we could learn few nice things to put in practice here at the land, and I got challenged to attend a 72hours course on Permaculture which will give me lots of new insight and ideas to use in the land... I'll pray and research about it...

Thursday morning we woke up early to start our trip back to the land...we wanted to be with Emmanuel who arrived just the day before we left...too pity we didn't get much time to hang out, but I'm sure he'll be back...next time for a longer period...
we put our tent down...
well, not totally, we left our "roof" to a girl who had no shelter for rain... another beautiful person we met... we went to the the kitchen and coffe shop for good-byes :-( and we were ready to get our feet on the road... or on the car :-)
To complete all these nice experiences in the best way we had one more meeting... not casual I would say...
we wanted to have a coffee and some food before our 5 hours drive, so we stopped on the first cafe on the way... there were people on both of the tables outside so we asked a man if we could join him... "of course he said"... we went in to order our things and only when we came out we noticed he was a traveller too... an older man, on his fifties, and not portuguese... we asked him where he was going... "I'm a pilgrim"... we laughed "so are we !!! " ... " I can tell" ,he said (I wondered why? eh, eh) ...
He was going to "Santiago de Compostela"... it's his second time...the first time was 15 years ago and he said he discovered himself then...now he came to discover Portugal :-) ... he's from The Hague-Holland, divorced 20 years ago, a retired policemen (he worked in the human department services he said) , lives alone and he was surprised to hear we were living in a community...he never heard such a thing...and that surprised us as well... he was challenged by the idea I guess... 
we all felt we were before an amazing person with lots in his heart to share... he was also a musician, he had 2 instruments, one for the inside, the violin, and the other for the outside, the harmonica... his words carried wisdom and he would not speak only superficial things...
when I asked him where he was on his journey with God, he pondered a lot and started to share... he said he went through some shadow places in his life, but he learned few things... in his first pilgrimage he said he lost his arrogance... he thought he didn't need others, that he could be happy alone... that was his arrogance...but he learned he is a social person and he needs men for him to realise he is a man... on that time I remembered a movie I saw recently, "Into the Wild",  which I recommend him to see...actually, I recommend it to you all... 
when he finished I went to the car to pick my Bible and read to him a Psalm that came to my mind as he was speaking...23..."The Lord is my shepherd"...he was grateful ... Juran also played for him his "Mbira", a kind of hand piano from Africa, with which the man was amazed...his name was Anner by the way, even though I'm sure it's not well spelled...
the presence of God was clear in our midst and we could all fill it...
he liked my hat... he didn't had one, and he didn't had much hair to protect him as well, so I gave it to him... you should have seen his joy...

Lyna said he looked like Heidi's grandfather...we all laughed :-)...he didn't want to accept it in the beginning, but I was sure it was not my hat anymore... I was happy too :-)... Juran gave him also a necklace he carried with a nice green stone... Anner didn't know what to say nor what was going on...
Neither do we... we just knew it felt right... we went on our way, leaving him on his journey and followed ours...
we couldn't say much to each other, we all felt we just had a sacred encounter... set up by God for sure...
we went in silence and in awe for a while and I stopped to put on Shimshai's music..."I sense Your presence..."
it was so strong... so real... so beautiful... tears almost fell down my face, my heart was filled with them though...

we were also looking forward to be back home... to be with the others...to see the garden and the trees...and to have a nice "sweat lodge" before a good night of sleep...

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

rAiNbOwS iN tHe sKy...

it has been raining still... so we're really getting wiser these days :-)... Maren left with Taini back to Germany... she probably will come back after doing what she needs to do in Germany...Marie Ivone (Mami, for all), Lyna's grandmother who has been with us for several weeks is also leaving tomorrow, back to France in her little "twingo" car...it has been a pleasure to have grandma around...she's really funny... specially in the nights when her English fades away and she insists in speaking French to all of us as we would perfectly understand her :-) ...
Juran and Emmanuel are coming tonight as well...
Emmanuel managed to have a break of his busy life in Sweden and he's back with us for few days to have a rest... Juran is coming from Porto again to join me and Marcia on a road trip to a small Iberian Rainbow gathering down south, between here and Algarve... I'm hoping to meet and reconnect with some friends and also to get to know new people who live in communities, both in Portugal and Spain... it's gonna be a good time I'm sure...
Judith from Jesus Freaks Cologne is also here to visit us for few days...

But speaking about rainbows, I just wanted to share a few pictures of amazing natural paintings God has been presenting us these days... Aren't Rainbows amazing ?!!!

Colours in the sky... and it's good to remember God's promise:
(Genesais 9:12-16)
God continued, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you. I'm putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth. From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I'll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life. When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I'll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth."


and look at our garden , how beautiful it is becoming !!!

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

aNoThEr tHoUgHt...fRuiTs oUt oF sEaSoN...

I like to eat fruits in its season, isn't it the best?!!
Do you know what I'm talking about by the way?
I'm simply asking cuz I have many people coming over who hardly do that, or some who never did it before...
(most people come from what we call "developed countries")
we live in a time in the "western civilization" (I don't want to speak here about this common terminology, so I'll just use brackets to avoid the discussion) when we can eat all sorts of fruits any time of the year...some of this fruits I wouldn't even be able to spell it correctly cuz they are so foreign...But aren't we losing something with it, I wonder?!!

I was just offered a piece of melon which I refused, simply because it's the only fruit I don't really like ( I tried often to see if my taste had changed, but it still doesn't convince me)
But I always admire the pleasure of those who take a bite on a nice piece of melon in a hot summer day...
Now, wait a minute!!! it's not summer yet!!! we're still in the beginning of spring here...Hummm...
That's when I started to think we are missing on something here...
I believe most of us are losing the gift and pleasure of appreciating the right things at the right time...
We're raised with a mentality that when we want something now, we got to have it NOW...
we no longer want to deal with things like "waiting", "expecting", "looking forward" ( I will not even mention "faith" or "trust" here)...
And we are losing something good with that mentality...
we are losing the excitement of when the expected things arrive... or the surprise... or the acknowledge of a miracle taking place...
We are losing the joy and fulfilment we have when something we are so waiting for, or longing for finally arrives...
I use to do something to allow myself this kind of feelings... I walk bare-foot, I always loved that since I was a child...the cool thing about it is that we are able to feel all sorts of different grounds, and each of them give us a different feeling...
Some are rocky and thorny, not so pleasant I would say, and usually I tend to walk more carefully and slower... but some are soft and grassy, or muddy and mushy, and it feels good for my feet (specially after walking in thorny grounds)...
Now you wonder...cool, but so what ?!!!
what I get from these bare-footed experiences is that I can only appreciate the pleasure of walking in a soft grassy ground after I've experienced to walk in a rocky or thorny ground...
Am I making any sense with this ?!!
Anyway, going back to the fruits before I get lost (or probably you are already lost here, sorry), wouldn't it be much more pleasurable to enjoy each fruit in its season, freshly picked up from the tree (with no chemicals please), instead of eating any fruit whenever we wanted it?!!
For instance, Mango trees (which is my favourite fruit) only bear fruit in Angola between December and January (if you're lucky you can get some in February still)...and what a treat it is to eat them there at this time...
I refuse to eat Mango in Portugal because we don't have them growing here, so I'm sure they're all imported (I'm not even going into the fair trade issue here, don't worry), and even if they are well frozen and transported, I know it would not be the same taste...
I also don't think it would be practical to travel around to all different places just to eat the things we wanted (not so good to the ozone layer, and only accessible for rich people)... again we 'd be feeding the same mentality "we want, we get"...
So I don't have many chances to go to Angola cuz it's too expensive, and last time I went to visit my parents who live there, 3 years ago, I didn't get any Mango cuz it was end of February (Bummer!!! I should have planned it better)...
But I know when I go there next time ( or somewhere else in the world where I can get a Mango out of a tree and not in supermarkets with those little labelled stickers on it) I'm sure I'll have a blast of feelings in my mouth with my first bite on my mango :-) ...
On every different place in the planet,
I believe there are seasonal fruits for a reason :
for seasonal needs...
we have here plenty of oranges throughout all the winter
because our bodies need a lot of vitamin C to stand the cold...
isn't that perfect?!!
we have nice watermelon in the hot summer,
cuz we need extra liquids on that time, and I guess because it also feels nice and refreshing...
Isn't that perfect?!!!

Well, I don't really know anymore what I wanted to say with all this, nor if anyone is following me at this stage, but I guess it's all about a longing in my heart to appreciate every little thing in its right moment, in its right season...
God speaks in the Bible about a tree planted by the river which "bears fruits in its season" (Psalm 1), and we can also read about "the fruits of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22,23)...
We're not always loving,
but when we need Love (to give or receive) God will always give to us...
we're not always joyful,
but real joy can often come in the most miserable of times,
we're not always peaceful,
but how good does it feel when that peace
that surpasses all human understanding comes...
We're not always patient,
we want everything NOW,
and we're sure that's the best for us,
but how much do we learn and grow
in times when we have to wait and be patient?!!!
we're not always kind, nor good to others all the time,
but what a pleasure and fulfilment it gives us
when we exercise that gift...
we're not always faithful
but isn't amazing how God always trusts in us?!!
He must have a reason :-)...
eventually His faithfulness becomes contagious in us :-)...
we're not always able to control ourselves ,
(probably the hardest of things),
but it's so comforting to Know that the Holy Spirit is in us
and can help us on that too,
bearing His fruits in the right season...

we might not be able to taste every fruit
all at once,
but for each season,
according to our needs (not desires),
God will delight us with the right fruit...
Isn't God perfect?!!!

Now, we can make some practical application after this... not so spiritual, I'll leave that to each one of you :-)

I would suggest (if you don't have a farm with fruits yourself)  that you would find out which are the seasonal fruits of your local area and go buy it from the local farmers (if there are still farmers around you :-/ )... Then enjoy it !!! :-) and be thankful if you are able to do that... if not, promote some native fruit planting in your area :-) that would be fun at least !!!

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

jUsT a tHoUgHt cRoSsiNg mY MiNd...

I 've been having really cool times reading and taking time to do things I often have no time to do when we have so much work to do on the land...the main reason is because it has been raining "cats and dogs" (funny English expression) throughout the whole week... which is actually good for our trees and garden...and for us to take a rest :-)... I love living with natural seasons, eh, eh...
one of the things I'm able to do more often is to read through some e.mails and some good books... as Maren said, "when it rains, we get wiser", eh, eh, eh... so I got this e.mail where some Christians were "adopting a terrorist" to pray for...Hummm...interesting... but then I had a funny thought..."it would be nice if we would adopt some christians as well :-)"

One of the books I devoured , and I highly recommend it to anyone (though I warn you that it will kick you in the but), was the " Irresistible revolution "
by Shane "something" (sorry, I'm bad with names...he's a cool ordinary radical anyway)... he was in Iraq during the war...he's from the USA by the way (yes, there are still radicals in America)... while he attended a prayer meeting with some Iraqi brothers and sisters (yes, there are Christians in Iraq), one bishop said to him "we will be praying for you. We will be praying for the church in the USA...to be the church"... Wow... so maybe my thought has some reason... We should be praying more for our brothers and sisters (including ourselves) to be the church... to really be followers of Christ and stand for what Jesus stood for... or not stand for what He never stood for (like war for instance)...

I often think about a passage in Hosea 4:1-9...

"1 Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites,
because the LORD has a charge to bring
against you who live in the land:
"There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgment of God in the land.
2 There is only cursing, lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

3 Because of this the land dries up,
and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.

4 "But let no one bring a charge,
let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.

5 You stumble day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother—

6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
"Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law of your God,
I also will ignore your children.

7 The more the priests increased,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God for something disgraceful.

8 They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.

9 And it will be: Like people, like priests.
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds."

So I always wonder when Christians "point the finger" to "the sinners" in this world...
Isn't it our fault?!! Aren't we "God's priesthood" the ones to point the finger at?!!!

Are we playing our role on earth?!!! Are we taking care of the poor?!! Actually, are we living with the poor?!!!
Are we seeking for justice on earth?!!! Are we not conformed to the patterns of this world?!!!
Are we living lives worthy of bearing God's name?!!!
we are not perfect I know... we'll surely never be in this body... but are we willing to be broken, vulnerable, humble, graceful ,  transformed ?!!! recognising our own failures and constant need of God's mercy and grace ?!!!
Who are we to blame but ourselves, the church?!!!
should we pray more for "terrorists" or for the church to actually be the church?!!!
it's good to pray for "terrorists", but should we pray for ourselves first, that we look differently to any "terrorist"?!!!
Didn't Jesus said to love our enemies?!!! Didn't He make friendship with "terrorists"?!!! think about Paul for instance...Hummm!!! he killed a lot of folks I'm sure of that... but didn't he brought many to life as well?!!! Do we still believe in redemption ?!!!

There was another quote from Shane's book I really liked...it was actually a friend of him who smokes a lot of weed who said this...
" 'Jesus never talked to a prostitute because he didn't see a prostitute. He just saw a child of God He was madly in love with'... When we have new eyes, we can look into the eyes of those we don't even like and see the One we love...we are free to imagine a revolution that sets both the oppressed and the oppressors free."

O.K, just to finish, I'll add another quote from that book , this one was said by Saint Augustine
"the church is a whore, but she's my mother."

"The revolution begins inside each of us, and through little acts of Love, it will take over the world. Let us begin to be christians again. Jesus, give us the courage" (Shane)

I'm left with this prayer:

I wanna pray more... for myself, to be who you created me to be...

for the church to be the church...

for this decaying world to be redeemed ...

For us all to know the depths of your Grace...
Let your Kingdom come Father,
on earth , as it is in Heaven.
Let your will be done.

Amen

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

sO mAnY tHiNgS 2 sAy...ViSiTs, LaNd aLmOsT pAiD, GoD hEaRs SiLLy pRaYeRs tOo, eTc... rEaD oNLy iF u hAvE TimE :-)

Pfff... yes, I have lots to share since I last wrote...and I didn't have much time lately, so, I'm sorry if this will get too long...
I'm actually using my rest day to do what I wanted to do for so long...
there's a lot of work now on the land...every thursday and monday we water all the trees, more than 300, we planted...they are getting so beautiful, and that's so encouraging !!!
But we're also finishing our bathroom which is taking more than a month now, but has been made with so much love by so many people...we're also busy with our veggie garden, which is finally taking its shape... sooo beautiful and peaceful to contemplate it !!!

so, yah, many things to share...still wonder how I'll do it...maybe big tittles would help...Hummm...

LUKAS AND JOEL LEFT US FOR FEW WEEKS
yah, Lukas and Joel left us after their birth-days...24th and 25th of March... we made a nice barbecue party...Joel brought a generator to have some music on, but it didn't work quite well...anyway, we had fun !!!
Next day we were saying good-bye, as they were leaving to Germany to a punk-rock concert and also for Lukas to see his family and friends... they will hitch-hike back soon... we all miss them here :-)
next day we gave Lukas his presents... including a recipe book we all wrote in with which he was mostly pleased :-) ... and then we had our first "community meeting"... it was mostly a time to hear each other's expectations and motivations to be here at this time... it is now the first time after one and a half year that a small group of people consider to stay for long time periods... me and Ton feel to be committed to stay for 10 years, Lyna and David who will soon have their baby here, will stay at least one year, Marcia till the summer...Miri feels this is her home, but she wants to travel around as that is part of her nature (or her season now)... Maren will go to Germany now to take care of some stuff and she doesn't know yet if this is her place for the moment... Joel will decide when he comes back from Germany and Lukas also said he feels like this community became his family and he will consider coming back after going to Germany for the summer...
It was a cool time and it was good to make things more clear...
One thing I know...this is God's land...God's community (even though not all know God personally)... and as long as God's purposes are fulfilled here, He will be with us... that's what makes this place special for me... and I believe God will bring the right people on the right time...people who will stay for longer time...people who will come and go...but God will remain the same...and hopefully His vision for this place will remain forever (whatever "forever" means) ...

MOST PART OF THE LOAN IS ALREADY PAID...THANK GOD AND MANY WHO PARTICIPATED ONCE AGAIN
As most of you know, God is in the centre of the story of this land right from the beginning (and I wanted to make that clear on the meeting we had also)..
.God spoke to a couple first, who sold their business to buy this land for God... they eventually stepped back and we faced to challenge to buy the land back to God...or better saying, keep it as it was before... so we raised 30.000 E in 5 weeks, to pay back to this couple, 10.000 of which were loaned by 2 friends for a year...
Thanks to many of you who contributed to the "magic hat" this last weeks, we were able to gather 6.500 E which I already sent last friday, 28th March, to this friends...we have around 2000E more, so we just need 1.500 E to complete the full amount of the loan...
Once again, PRAISE GOD FOR HE IS FAITHFUL... AND THANKS TO HIS FAITHFUL AND GENEROUS PEOPLE AS WELL...

GOD ANSWERS SILLY PRAYERS TOO
But God
answers "silly" prayers too (sometimes I feel my prayers are silly, but I do it anyway)...so, this week I had a couple of those... first for one of our cats, Sambo...she and Duma got sterilized on friday, 28th, and I had to give them shots...I hate that part...so Sambo didn't really like it either, so one morning she just ran away and was gone for 2 days... on the 3rd day in the morning I went to my prayer time and was calling her on the way... I couldn't hold it any longer...I could only cry and asked God to bring her back safe and to not allow any infection in her body... I felt I couldn't just stay there and cry, so I took a bit of cheese from my breakfast and went around calling her... nothing...no "miau" anywhere :-( ... I went back to the prayer tent and worshipped God with the others who came (we know have prayer times together from 9-10 am )... As I went back to the kitchen, little Hanna came to me with excitement saying "Sambo is back"... wow, you can imagine my joy and thankfulness :-)... but then God also started to speak to me something... "Can you cry like that for my lost children?! can you go after them?!! I'm so looking forward to bring them back home "... Wow, that is still moving my heart... I want to be crying for the lost like that... I want to feel God's heart for those who are lost...still far from home...maybe in need of healing...maybe in need of affection...surelly in need to come back Home...


The other "silly" prayer was a bit more silly...ok, our water pump broke down...and we do need it specially now to water the garden...it takes us at least 2 hours now to water everything every evening...so, I had spent the whole day fixing the pipes and when I was ready to run the pump I noticed that the fuel was all gone and dripping somewhere... I was pulling the roap over and over, but nothing...F***...now what?!! we couldn't wait, so we just went back to good hold way of watering the garden...I picked as much buckets as I could get, Ton, Marcia and little Hanna came to help and we pulled bucket after bucket to water all the plants...
we need around, maybe more then 200 litters to water all the plants... but we made it :-) with Hanna in our command, she wouldn't stop saying "shneller, shneller" (I 'm sure is badly spelled, it's "faster, faster" in german)... but that made it really fast, and really fun !!!
next morning in our prayer time I dared to ask God to fix our pump as it was really tiring last day... my faith was not so daring, so I asked at least to get someone who could fix it... so after siesta, I was going to the village to find a man who could come and see the pump, but I decided to go check it first... the fuel was not dripping anymore, so I thought about the prayer, and even though I felt silly I decided to give it a try... :-) I didn't even have to try several times as usual, it run at first :-)... I couldn't help but laugh, and thank God...

SOME MORE VISITS


we had Juran back for a couple of days, together with Pedro, my cousin from Porto...he's like my brother, we grew up together as our parents were best friends...It was so nice to have him here, even if it was just for a couple of days...Edna, Paulo,

Pamy, Joshua and Nelson also came form Porto to spent a night and a day...it was so pleasant to have them all here...

here's Pamy planting some Cherry trees with me :-)
Christian also came from Lisbon... what a boy (sorry Chris to call you boy, hope you don't mind)... it was such a blessing for all of us to have him around...he just carries the presence of Jesus in such a sweet and tender way...he also delighted all of us with his amazing troubadour's romantic heart :-)... Thank you Chris... you are such a beautiful person... he also prepared for us together with Juran a good "sweat lodge" ...
it was so nice, even though not quite hot and sweaty yet...
yesterday we got it better, covering all the wholes around and making the stones very hot ...wow, so good!!! it's becoming a nice fellowship time as well, for those who go in the sweat lodge, and for the others who stay outside chatting and playing guitar till late in the night...
some of the privileges of living in the wild :-)


LIFE IN THE LAND

with all the busy times, storms, spectacular and normal things in the land, life goes on fine... Lyna and David are on their way to finish setting up their Yurt...
shantii, shantii... I guess the next storm will test it ...it's looking good though...
As I said the work in the garden is going fine, Marcia, Maren
and Julia often join me to help...
Miri is almost finished with last details of our bathroom...Ton is always busy with the trees and the upper forest. It's becoming so beautiful as well...
It's been very good to have the prayer time in the mornings, and once a week (we still didn't figure out which day would be better) we have the "Dance Floor", where we'll feel free to dance with the Spirit, being led as The Spirit wants...we'll never know how it will look like...


CRAZY WEATHER
We've been having some crazy weather as well, with really strong winds, rain, haze,

and now a very hot sunny week...
it makes me wonder with God's creation, and how fragile we are before it... we realize that much more when we live in the middle of woods which trees bounce around like crazy dancers, or in fragile tents in the middle of the meadow... Tssss, but God kept us all safe :-)...
storm is coming again soon by the way...I can hear the thunder already now...ay, ay, ay...Better go take refuge in my hut...
bless you all

PEACE

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

mOrE viSiTs, mUcH fUn & mUcH wOrK...

I'm being crap updating you with the life in the land, but it has been pretty busy days and not so much time to be online...
so, the work keeps going well at the land, and the bath place is not finished yet :-( but it's becoming a 5 start bath place :-)
Many have been helping on this project too...
here's Hannes and Sven...







Hannes (from Berlin) testing the bath and showing the view from the still unseen window :-)
Marcia, Andrea and Miri busy with the mosaic work...
very nice !!!
The design is Luka's... unfortunately he was with a serious infection in one of his teeth, so he was not in the mood to do anything... I don't blame him!!! it was bad...

I was in Lisbon for the weekend to meet some different friends...specially Maureen Hurst who was sick and could not make it to come to the land with her kids, Alana and Isaac...Denny , her husband was in the USA, so she didn't have much support for the "home duties", and she was feeling a bit bad cuz she couldn't do much...most of the time she had to stay in bed, or laying down at the couch... So, It was nice to be with her at their house which feels pretty much to me like home ... and that is such a nice feeling!!!

I met Sara as well, my old house mate in LIsbon, and she went one night to have dinner at the Hurst's...
Isaac was on duty :-) !!!

He's a great kid... actually he's amazing !!! I would say, unique !!! :-) besides his talent to speak and tell stories in a really fun and dramatic way (which often makes me laugh a lot), he proved to be an excellent house keeper... he cooked for us once, he set up the table, he showed us where things are and how his mom usually does things, he went shopping with me, and he knew exactly what to get...well, impressive for a little boy !!!
He end up coming with me and Sara to the land and spent some days...Marcia was going to Lisbon on Wednesday, so he went back with her... We all miss him here already... he definitely leaves a mark on everyone :-) he 's one of those person's that if you meet him once you'll never forget him :-)

The work at the garden keeps going and it's becoming so beautiful !!! Actually, the hardest part about planting is to prepare the ground... taking out weeds, stones and making it loose ... planting the seeds is actually the easy part... harvesting is fun and rewarding... Trish, Hanna (a german woman who came for 10 days to rest), Marcia, Julian ( he was with us last year,he came now for few days and helped a lot..he's just a servant, he can't help it), Isaac,
Julia and little Hanna have been some of the tough ones who have been helping to prepare our vegetable garden... we've been doing this for more than 2 or 3 weeks now...Fiiiiu!!! Finally done!

We also had some more visits after Sara and Isaac...

Julia and little Hanna, her daughter, came from Stuttgard for few weeks...

Lucy and Eileen came from London also for few weeks...
And some already "from the house", as we say in portuguese (da casa), Lyna and David are finally back to stay :-) ...
their baby is about to come as well, and it will be so nice to have a child around :-)...
They brought Taini with them who will stay for few days too...
Agneszca
(I'm sure I must have spelled her name wrong, sorry), a friend from my Polish friend Agata, was also here for the weekend... she's also part of Provizorka community in Poland together with others I also got to know on The Way :-)...

So, we're getting kinda crowded... but it's good !!!
And finally it seems like we're having a more permanent group who will stay for longer time than just few weeks, days or months...

P.S- I'M TIRED OF WAITING FOR THE PICTURES TO UPLOAD AND I'M WITH A BAD HEADACHE TODAY, SO I'LL TRY LATER OR ANOTHER DAY...BUT I'LL PUBLISH THE POST LIKE THIS ANYWAY :-)

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

nEw bAtH pLaCe...

don't worry those who had the privilege of having a nice warm bath under the stars :-) ... it will remain the same, but improved... hopefully !!!
We're making better walls with wood and the floor in cement... it's not my favourite material, but it's good to last longer...
I was already thinking for long time that we needed a good bath place for everyone... and it's becoming very nice...

Miri is helping, Lukas too and also Sven and Andrea who just came to visit from Switzerland...


Now we'll have a 5 star bath place..still with fire underneath to warm the water, and we can open or close the roof wether we want to see the stars or not :-)...

We also had a nice "talent show evening"...
it was very funny to listen Sven with his blue style guitar

and Lukas, more punk style, with a kitchen funnel as a megaphone ...eh, eh, eh...we had lots of fun !!!

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

rEjOiCe WiTh mE fOr I hAvE FoUnD mY lOsT eArRiNg... :-)

O.K, maybe this will sound totally silly to you... but you can't imagine how glad I was to find this earring I lost some weeks ago (the top one)... You might think it's just an earring... and yes, it's true... but you don't know the meaning it has for me (as everything else I wear), and all the story behind it... so let me share with you if you're interested :-)...

So this goes all the way back to India, 10 years ago ( wow, it's been long)... I went there alone, with a sleeping back and an empty book which was my only company and a way to express all the thoughts and impressions I was experiencing... on that time I was starting to know God as a Higher presence that was guiding me and protecting me... I didn't know God personally yet, but that presence was so real and intimate...I would speak with it, I would follow signs like eagles in the sky (who would show me where to camp), feathers which would lead me the way, etc... O.k, you can call me nuts, but still I believe God speaks so much through this things...
So at a certain time I lost an earring my cousin had given me...it was a sun... so I thought, "well, if I have to replace it, another one will come my way" (I never buy stuff I wear, whether they are gifts, or they "come my way")... I don't know if on the same day or few days after that thought, I was going to a new place and I was waiting for a sign or direction to show me the place I would camp... it was a beach with nice cliffs and jungles... I went for a walk, and the eagles came...my favourite sign...there were 2 in the beginning, then 3 more came along... it was a family, 2 big ones that I presumed would be the parents, and 3 kids... I was amazed with their flight, I ducked down and simply contemplated the beauty of it... suddenly, something deeper touched my heart... I was bursting into tears, and I was feeling some sort of healing happening deep in my soul... I have no idea how long this lasted... it could have been minutes, but it felt like hours... I knew I had to make that cliff my new home for that time... the eagles went away, I was filled with thankfulness to this Higher Presence that became closer than ever before... When I stood up, I turned, and laying on the rocks, right in front of me, this earring was shining to me as saying "it's for you" ... :-)... I thanked again to The Presence... I was in awe...
One year later, now in Angola, I was presented to this person, Jesus, who claimed to be God, the All present, All Knowing, etc... I was in a community where many people were following this Jesus and saying with full confidence that they knew Him personally cuz He was still alive today... Hummm...I had my struggles with that "christian stuff" and any kind of religion, but these people were really honest and I could see it was not only coming out of their mouths, but it was real in their lives...
So I was given this book to read, a Bible, which mentioned about God and Jesus, and many other things I didn't really related with (besides Eclesiastes book which related a lot with many of my thoughts about the world around )... I was alone in my room, with this book in my hands, filled with questions and doubts in my mind... And I asked the question that probably many people ask one day "O.k God, if you are this one that this book is speaking about, show me"... then I felt a voice deep inside of me saying: "remember this?! ", and it led me to remember this story with the eagles and the earring I just described you... "yes" I said, and the same voice replied : "It was me" ... "remember this?!", another crazy story with a dog...yes, a dog...and in the end the same words : "It was me" ... I was amazed... in awe... in ecstasy... it finally made sense... I finally connected that Presence with the same God of that book, and Jesus and all ...
:-)
After that I always say with full confidence that this earring was a present from God (specially to those Christians who have problems with piercings , eh, eh)... It became a symbol of my covenant with Him actually... so now you can understand better why I was so sad...and why I am so happy now that I found it again...

I was not eagerly trying to find it... I gave it back to God and said : "If you want me to have it again, bring it my way"...
and so it happen... I was building the new bath place together with Andrea, a visit from Switzerland... the old place had been partly destroyed and we were closing the sides to pour the cement in... Andrea needed some help and I went there... and what a surprise to find my earring, in the midst of the dirt... it would be like finding a needle in a straw pile...a miracle...a sign...
I'm really happy !!!
When I was alone I went to put it and thought it was going to be hard...rings are often harder, with no mirror and no one to help... but it was like God was helping me :-)... it just went in straight away...
I felt like my covenant with God is renewed... The last year was full of trials and struggles, but now I'm at peace again...

I was just reading now the parable of the lost coin, and how happy that woman was to find her lost coin... she told everyone and made a party ... and Jesus compared that to the party that is going on in Heaven with every lost person who is found...
I was also lost, back there in India... I rejoice today that I 'm found by God... many may rejoice as well for me, but I guess only God knows how precious and significant I am... How precious and significant each one human being is... God knows every single one of us as no one else does... God created us... God watched us being formed in our mom's womb...God watched us grow... God watched us getting lost and confused...God watched us making a lot of crap out of our lives... But God was always around, sending us signs, giving us directions, protecting us, guiding us to Know Him, loving us... till we were finally found... I can't imagine God's Joy, but I bet He makes the best parties ever :-)...

O.K, enough of divagating...

REJOICE !!!
FOR YOUR LIFE !!!

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

gOiNg oUt 4 a wHiLe...aLgARvE & LiSbOn...

it's been almost 2 weeks since I left the land with Juran and Marcia to go to different places and visit different friends...
we went to Algarve first, in the south end of Portugal... we were invited by a group of young people we met before in different occasions to be with them and share a bit about living in community... it was amazing to see the unity, love and hospitality of those friends of the Body of Christ... And I felt really encouraged to see how a small group of young people were able to achieve what many "grown ups" are trying for ages here in Portugal... to get "denominations" united to seek God's presence and His kingdom... it was encouraging to hear a young guy saying openly that they are tired of "playing church" and comparing themselves with one another, instead of living for the Kingdom of God... and everyone were responding positively to that "cry" ...
After the weekend we went to stay with some dear friends Rodrigo and Zeza, and their children Rafa and Rania... it was a very pleasant time with very interesting conversations around the table... I got to see also other friends like Patricia and Abel, Liane and Nene...
It was refreshing to hear stories, to get updated with news and to receive warm and nice hugs :-)...

After that we went to Lisbon, Juran kept his way to Porto, while Marcia and me went to see our dear Hurst family and a lot of our friends who were at their house to see us too... it felt really good to be around them all and feel the warm family environment which fills that home... :-)
Marcia went to stay with her family and I went to Marty and Carey's house...They were out in Ericeira with other friends who came from USA and all parts of Europe to their usual annual gathering... It was nice to see some of the "Matrix" family there and I wanted to meet some other people there too,
like Sasa Flek and















Marek from Czech Republic, and Deb Hirsh whom I only knew by e.mail through my dear friend (and mom) Lisa Borden... I also end up meeting Sasa's wife (I'll not be able to spell her name, sorry), and me and the 3 Czechs end up having a nice relaxing friday afternoon, seating around a cafe table and
enjoying the view, power, beauty and sound of the amazing ocean while the sun was setting...
Anyway, it's so funny how lives interconnect in so many different ways, places and environments...
I end up hearing some of the discussions that took place there and it was good to realise how God is saying the same things everywhere... being simple...organic... living in community (or "communitas")... Alan Hirsch
was there to share some of his thoughts and most of the discussions were around his book "The forgotten ways"...
it was nice to see many other people I met before in some other places...

Now I'm here trying to do what I was supposed to do long time ago... checking my e.mails and go through them all...Pfffff... I've been avoiding that for too long now... but I better take the opportunity of being in a place with electricity to get over with this...I'm not so enthusiastic about it, but I don't want to see my mail box so full any longer...

I'm going back to the land with Marcia on sunday night :-) I can't wait to be back home...

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

bUyiNg tHe LaNd bAcK 2 GoD...

As most of you know, we had to buy the land last year around this time ...with 5 weeks to raise 30.000 Euros, God was faithful, and with it He got many people to participate in what is now God's land, as it was supposed to be from the beginning... we learned that nothing depends on us, nothing depends on men's will, but God is sovereign above our individual choices of participating in what He desires to do or not...(obviously when men choose to live their own way, they always end up harming themselves or others)
So when we say now that this land belongs to God, we really mean it, and we can tell a nice amazing story of God's miracle and provision...

And also , being God's land, it became many people's land... from all those who have been passing by (I never counted, but more than a hundred for sure), from all those who have been praying, from all those who have been generously putting money into it, donating books, buying trees, bringing buses, giving tents,etc... Even the Mayor of the nearby village and our neighbours who have been supporting us in so many ways...As I said in a previous post, we are all simply carers of what belongs to God, and each of us plays our special role in it...

We're really thankful for Mike and Ed who generously lend us 8000BP (+/-10.000 Euros) to be able to pay back to Yves and Regina the total amount of 30.000 Euros by April last year...
But we're almost in April again and we need to be faithful to our word and pay them back the money...
We must have around 1000 Euros that some people have been giving throughout the year, so we still need to raise 9.000 E more till April to cover up the total amount...

We thought we could sell our olive oil to help, but this was not a good year for the trees, so we cannot count on it...we just got 30 liters this year, which is not even enough for our regular use...

As I was delighting myself few days ago with the beauty and the amazing smell of the little Almond tree we planted last year, I was reminded by God of His promise last year as you could read in this post ...
“The word of the LORD came to me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?"
"I see the branch of an almond tree," I replied.
The LORD said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled." (Jer1:11,12)


As it happened last year, we'd like to offer you again the opportunity to participate in all that God is doing among us and donate some money to this land... it doesn't need to be much cuz we've been also learning that "little is much" in the Kingdom of God... consider it as a seed that God will multiply... consider it like planting a tree, proclaiming hope to this land and to God's purposes...


we have the official papers as well (after almost a year of paperwork) and the land is now in the name of an Association we formed 4 years ago in Lisbon called "White Stone", that anyone is welcome to be part of...
So here are White Stone's bank details...
--
White Stone – Associação Recreativa e Cultural
Banco Millennium BCP (Portugal)
NIB- 0033-0000-45315758012-05

International transfers:
IBAN- PT50-0033-0000-45315758012-05

SWIFT- BCOMPTPL

Address: Rua da Santa Rita, 78;Almoinhas Velhas;2755-199 Alcabideche - Portugal


Share with your friends as well... you can also make different initiatives, like the "Jesus Freaks Community" in Cologne who are setting up a big party with concerts and making t-shirts to sell to raise money for the land :-) Thank you guys... this community as been a blessing to the land in many ways !!! They are beautiful people !!!

This is already a miracle land... and I'm not only speaking about raising money, but mostly about people's lives being transformed, people finding the peace and rest they were longing for, people being literally delivered from death, people being affirmed in their identity and a barren land being transformed into a beautiful and peaceful garden :-)

Thanks to you all ...
And thanks to God
who make impossible things come true !!!
Above all , pray :-) that's the most powerful gift...

PEACE

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

pLaNtInG tReEs...

Last 2 weeks we've been busy with planting the trees we bought...almost 300 new trees in the Mount of Oaks...here in this picture is Lukas, Jared and Nuno planting little forest of Birches... they were all excited about it !!! we all were...


I was not expecting we'd get so tall trees already, so when we plant them we can already see little forests :-)
Maybe in 20 or 30 years this will be an amazing beautiful place... it is already, but when all this trees will get to their full size it's gonna be amazing !!!
This is not about us anyway ( I speak for myself), I have no idea where am I going to be in 20 years from now, but I'm glad to picture how this place can become one day...

This is about planting hope... This is about believing that it is worth to care for what we have today... even if the world ends tomorrow...It is about realising that we're just stewards of what belongs to God... land should have no owners, but carers...
it is not about the future either, but maybe about the past... long time ago God told us to work and take care of a beautiful garden He made... a garden where God would walk in the cool of the day :-)...

Anyway, I love to take care of this little piece of land, and help to turn it into a pleasant , restful and peaceful place for all those who are already here and for all those who will still come...

here's Glorie clearing another field to plant one more "little forest"...me and Marcia were helping her...
in the picture before, Marie (before she ate the plant), Glorie and Marcia, were planting Birches in front of the prayer forest...

here Lukas is ploughing the field for the Cherry trees... he was having a hard time with the old tractor...but look at his hair style :-) ...

Joel came yesterday with a better tractor to plough the land... it's from his grandfather and we can use it till next week... so cool !!! They were both all excited , they didn't even want to have siesta...

Joel has been a great help here as well... it's really nice to have him around... he's thinking about staying longer... Cool !!!
Soon we can start with the vegetable garden :-) A lot of work this season... It's nice to have a lot of people as well :-)
Step by step.. everything in its timing...

Just some nice pictures now :-)
...here's Pula, he's wildest since he got "fixed"...

but he's still the sweet little Pula :-) ...here with Lukas ...

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

Marie Luise is out of the hospital...

Ok, just to finish this chapter, and for those who have been following this story, Marie Luise is back on the land... Hiiippyyyy!!!
she still needs to rest but the level of enzymes had decreased considerably... I believe is one more miracle :-)... she also needs to drink lots of water and on tuesday we go back to the hospital to check if everything is back to normal...
Praise God once again!!!
I just wanted to add here the pictures of the plant she ate, Water Hemlock or Cicuta,
just in case you cross with it somewhere...
ANYWAY... DO NEVER TRY ANYTHING WILD UNLESS YOU ARE TOTALLY SURE IT'S EATABLE !!!

This one is easily mistaken with a wild white carrot, it's leaves look like parsley (even though Cicuta gets a bit red near the ground) , and the flour grows till 2 meters high and it also looks like anise ... every part of it is EXTREMELY poisonous and deadly...Often poisonous plants have similarities with other normal plants ... BE AWARE PLEASE !!!

cUriOuS ?!! cLiCk 2 fiNd oUt mOrE!!!

a rEaLLy hApPy BiRtH dAy tO mAriE LuiSe...

We all went to the hospital for the 22nd birthday of Marie Luise (her bed number is also 22...funny!!!)...
After all she went through we have even more reasons to celebrate her life ... She's now in a room just waiting to get better and get out... her blood enzyme's level is still too high, around 30.000 , when the normal should be 200 (when she came in she had 57000)... so she needs lots of rest...
And prayers are still welcome as well... thank you for all those who are praying all over the world...
But of course this day was special and we went to celebrate with her and bring some joy to the hospital...

the doctors gave us the waiting room to be with her...we took cake, juice and lots of baloons :-) ... yes, this was in the hospital!!!

We got her presents...lots of chocolate (which she loves), a new pair of shoes that she really needed...

 and this funny joke from Ton :-)